Chocolate (I) (2019–2020) User Reviews (62)

A Slow but Moving Tearjerker

[nishera · 8/10 · 31 January 2020]

Have you ever taken a long road trip with endless stretches of highway and there's nothing to look at but the scenery? To me, this show is the movie equivalent of that. The journey is the main story/romance (with a number of forced detours) and the scenery is all the side stories you encounter along the way. Whether you like this film will depend heavily on whether you enjoy that sort of pace.

If you are looking for excitement and romantic thrills, be warned. Although romance is indeed central to this show, it mainly serves to tie together a patchwork of smaller "slice of life" type stories centered around food, and the joy/meaning that it can bring. The actual romance is very quiet and only occupies maybe 25% of the story.

The bulk of the story is set in a hospice for terminal patients, and is much heavier than the average K-drama. You should expect to cry A LOT (in a good way). While this film does have a relatively unique plot, artistic cinematography and a nice (if repetitive) soundtrack, by far its strongest point is the acting/storytelling. You truly invest in all the characters and feel what they feel (except maybe for Michael's mother).

A few caveats: This film is clearly aimed at an older audience (so younger viewers may have no interest in the older couples), and some may find the meandering pace tedious. The romantic plot also relies on the "lack of communication" trope for an unreasonably long time, so frustration may outweigh entertainment for some. Also, I personally found the last 20-30 minutes really anticlimactic. The ending itself was ok (despite all the loose ends), but IMO the events leading to it seemed unnecessary/contrived.

All in all, this show is certain to touch anyone who has experienced hospice life. As for other viewers, if you enjoy quiet, introspective stories full of deep emotion, and can value heart-aching as much as heart-pounding love, then this will probably be right up your alley. (Circumstantially) Recommended

ROMANCE RATING: 7/10 I'm a little conflicted on the romantic content. I thought the ABSTRACT romance was good, and Ha Ji-Won and Yoon Kye-Sang had believable chemistry in their growing feelings for each other. I could really feel their mutual longing. However, when it came to the CONCRETE romance and they finally kissed (3+ scenes), it just left me...underwhelmed. I can appreciate subtle and understated romance, but to me this felt more like something was missing. That might just be my personal preference though!

Hoping for a season 2

[kaitlynspitterpaws · 9/10 · 19 January 2020]

I'm on the last episode. Please say there will be a season 2! I've looked on Google and can't find any reference to a season 2. As a 48 year old woman it's rare to find Korean dramas with characters in my age group that I can relate to. We middle aged audiences watch TV too! Thank you for representing our age group. I love the cast, many familiar faces.

A heavy drama

[lmerana · 7/10 · 4 February 2020]

I listed this to my heavy kdramas. I think working in a hospice would be now last on my workplace list. It is full of death and goodbyes. Even the dog died. It is heartbreaking. I just felt that this drama was also intended to be a romance genre but the love story developed so slow and some of the supporting actors are annoying.

Perfect

[borgesrenatab · 10/10 · 4 January 2020]

Just perfect. This is my New mr. Sunshine. the actors are great. A terrific love story

A chef and a doctor

[madbird-61243 · 9/10 · 7 December 2019]

I did not believe my eyes to see Ha in pigtail in a drama with a fancy name Chocolate. It is for years since I have been waiting for Ha to act in drama in par wirh Secret Garden and King2Hearts. Chocolate does not let me down.

I have seen 3 episodes so far. Cannot keep myself waiting anxiously in front of the TV for the new episode.

The writer is very aggressive to incorporate kitchen with a hospital. Both genre are my favourite. The writer tries his very best to make the story logical. I would say he has done a very good job.

Choice of male leads is another amazing point. 3 handsome second leads, from Good Wife, Girl friend, Vagabond. They are to me, with great potential when I first saw them. The first male lead is not the type that that impresses you at first sight. But you will be in love with him as time goes by.

Together with the great scenery in Greece, amazing shooting and beautiful soundtrack, this is simply a drama that could not be skipped.

A bit slow moving

[droche-49966 · 7/10 · 5 February 2020]

It is a love story that spans decades and at times during the series, it does feel a little like the story is going to take decades to tell too. It's a bit of a wonder that the two find each other given how dumb they act at times. But the acting is decent and the story is decent so overall, it is a good watch. Just not the best example of a well done Korean drama.

Best romantic drama I have ever seen

[petermarendy · 9/10 · 12 January 2020]

This is the best romantic drama I have ever seen. The lead actor Yoon Kye-sang and lead actress Ha Ji-won deliver truly remarkable performances. My heart almost exploded out of my chest many times watching them together. Their scenes together wether happy or sad are extremely touching and deep. The production values and script are top class.

SEASON 2 REQUIRED

[ianvmd · 6/10 · 24 January 2020]

I truly enjoyed this series. I love the cinematography and the development of the series thru character building and story lines.

However, I started to feel anxious by the start of Episode 15 (2nd to the last Episode). So many questions are left unanswered by the unsatisfying Finale.

SPOILERS AHEAD

1. Kang lied to Cha Young about the identity of her mother, what happened there? 2. What happened to Cha Young's loss of sense of smell and taste? 3. Cha Young's lack of emotion and affection to Kang bothers me, is it bad acting? what's in Cha Young's mind?

I have watched a lot of movies and series with open endings, but this one just doesn't make sense, that there's an urge inside of me to have a season 2 - so that i won't feel that I just wasted my time.

Myriad of emotions

[Tejasvita26 · 10/10 · 19 January 2020]

This has been of the best Korean dramas. This show has done perfect justice to portraying human lives. The journey of life and death has been depicted with delicate beauty. Each episode leaves you feeling emotional and so in tune with life that you become even more grateful. The lead pair's chemistry is just beautiful. The slow burning romance of moon cha young and lee kang with beautiful cinematography and lovely OST is just like 🍫. This drama lives up to its name in every essence. A must watch of you tend to like intensely emotional drama.

Good Enough

[PennyReviews · 7/10 · 22 January 2020]

" Chocolate " was a good combination of food, travel and melodrama.

The story had a nice amount of romance, drama and family dynamics. The tragedy was all over it, not only in the background stories of the two leads, but with the actual side stories of the hospice as well. Some of the characters were annoying though. However, overall, the family drama was good, the bromance was nice, the love story intense enough and with enough chemistry, and the performances were very professional on top of that. The story, however, was lacking a bit of intensity and that made it boring at times, as it was easily predictable.

So, overall, seven out of ten.

Best Representation of the Joys of Hospice!

[vradelis · 10/10 · 22 March 2020]

You might think that sounds morbid, but I cried tears of joy at the wonderful stories that unfolded.

Good lord, what a drag and that last episode!

[afterbuddha · 6/10 · 22 September 2021]

Chocolate is a good drama but an extremely slow one. The series introduces new characters randomly within the middle of the show and I have no idea why.

Cast wise, Ha Ji-Won is sweet and the amazing Seung-Jo Jang is fantastic! Yoong Kyesang has done a good job too.

Overall I feel the series could have easily finished within 12 episodes instead it goes on until 16 episodes and the last one has some random things happening.

I'll still suggest you to watch it at least once.

Enjoyable but frustrating

[johnstofur · 5/10 · 5 January 2020]

First off, it's frustrating that the connection between the two main characters isn't established sooner. Secondly, it's just a giant ad campaign for Quiznos, Godiva, and Maserati. The product placement is so outrageous that it makes me want to never buy any of those products because they run the series

Superb beautiful and touching series!

[farahiyahnur · 10/10 · 12 January 2020]

I'm really into this series. This drama is just on another level. I really enjoy all of the emotion in every single episode (I literally cried a lot watching this series). Like chocolate, this drama is full of bitter-sweet emotion. The plotline is so fresh and interesting, chemistry between the main cast is so amazing, and almost all the cast did a very good job at portraying their characters. The ost are also good. So perfect overall. It's hard to find an emotional yet so beautiful series like this. It's one the best melodrama I've watch so far. Definitely worth to watch. Highly recommended!

It will touch your heart

[santiago_jose_albert · 10/10 · 29 December 2019]

This K-Drama is very touching to the soul. Although it says based on non-real events, I feel that this show depicts what seems like true events. I love how after every episode finishes there is a life-teaching moral; this show makes me appreciate life even more. I would 💯 percent recommend this show. If you are a sentimental person like myself, have a box of tissues ready and be ready to be on Netflix for the next couple of days. I finished episodes 1-9 in less than 2 days. Now I'm waiting for the remaining episodes to come on.

A pretty okay watch

[shtanushree · 6/10 · 11 December 2021]

I watched Chocolate as a casual watch and that's all it still turned out to be. There were moments in the drama that I really liked, which I could safely call its high points but then it maintain a slow pace, never hurrying and never giving too much.

The plot impressed me with its simplicity but the part where I was a bit disappointed was the making of the lead characters. Even though I was happy with the growth that Lee Kang as a character showed throughout the drama (played by a very capable Yoon Kye-sang), I was disappointed with how stagnant ha Ji-won's character stayed throughout. It's one thing to make a character that's quiet, calm and another to make one as someone whose unnaturally quiet. I honestly felt that given how relationships turned out, there was need for some better dialogues for the lead pair.

Having said that, I had a contrasting impression of the other characters. The supporting characters were played by some amazing actors/actresses whose relationships bore complexity and yet, looked really natural. The environment of the hospice with people struggling with their natural problems kept the plot afloat.

Watch Chocolate if you want to learn some valuable bits about life in all their subtlety. If you're hoping for a drama that's going to keep you hung up on it, then this won't be the one.

Mature romantic drama at its finest

[lorraineancheta · 10/10 · 20 April 2020]

Story amazing, drama execution present, character development achieved and most importantly, not boring.

Coping with PTSD

[gmc-linetta · 7/10 · 8 April 2022]

The last film I watched under the same title starred J. Binoche and was about a chocolatier. In the Korean series chocolate is a product placement incorporated in the story quite plausibly. It is an emotional drama about people with PTSD with quite a well-constructed story, ending with the feeling of fulfilment for both main characters of the story. The male lead did a great job, but I found the female lead lethargic and monosyllabic. At one point I thought to myself if she comes again clasping hands in front of her groin or sits slumped, I'll draw the line... There is no shortage, however, of such character portrayal (to a greater of lesser degree) in k-dramas, e.g. Run On (male protagonist) or Nevertheless (female protagonist) just to name the most recent ones. Despite this, I think the film does deliver the message of people coping with PTSD.

Second season soon, please :)

[angeladramos · 9/10 · 18 February 2020]

Just loved each episode. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Great show with major flaws in storylin

[samvit-89252 · 6/10 · 17 December 2023]

I chose this show because it's aimed at a mire mature audience. I quite liked the first few episodes even though the pace is really slow. But I could have made up with it, as the setting is in a hospice with terminally ill patients. The first hint, that something in the script went off, was FL not disclosing she met the ML during childhood. I don't mean disclosing she's in love with him, just simply starting a normal conversation instead of playing hide and seek.

Next: The very instant she opens up to a new relationship it turns out her childhood love is the best friend of her just acquired boyfriend - and she does not say a word, but flees to an other country, thus breaking the relationship We are talking about adults 30-40 years old... This unnatural self-censorship continues and goes on and on for years and is really frustrating. Then this 40yr old doc, wondering about symptoms of falling in love and talking about it to a 12 year old??? It might be an overdose of the purity thing in kdramas, but having adults behave like teenagers without any experience in this setting is a complete no-go.. Luckily there was no love triangle. Kudos for this.

Unfortunately the scriptwriters couldn't figure out a story without hereditary conflicts, so we have to endure this as well. By episode 10 or 11 I couldn't bear it anymore and skipped them.

Also there is no coherence of when the accident was, in the beginning talking of 24 years, towards the end of 20, when at least 4 other years passed by.

Very annoying is also the straightforward display of publicity for various brands that obviously sponsored this show.

Towards the end the scriptwriters panicked and had to quickly make up everyone to find their love.

Gosh, why did I still give the show 6 points? There's nothing wrong with the actors (except for the FL "big eyes"), camera, music and so on. They did well and the issue of life ending is hilarious. They've got some good points here and the slow pacing adds to the reflection. There is also a lot to learn about cooking. The script around is frustrating.

I really wish they could write more mature dramas. In this case, without the FL hiding the fact, that she knew the ML from childhood things would have evolved much sooner and differently and without the hereditary stuff it still could have been a melancholic yet satisfying show.

Absolutely Fabulous Heartrending Drama!

[morebon · 10/10 · 21 January 2020]

This was truly an emotionally compelling love story: extremely touching, endearing narrative! Yoon Kye Sang and Ha Ji Won were exceptional in their performance together. Their characters Lee Kang and Moon Cha Young coupled with their acting made for many a heartrending, tear-jerking moment (have plenty of tissue handy). Similarly, the production would not have been as powerful if it were not for the backstories, OST list, cinematography, supporting cast, and fabulous storytelling--all were amazing! Bravo! Loved it! Netflix does it again with their collaborations with JTBC Network for another outstanding Netflix Original K-Drama! Cheers to an absolutely fabulous viewing selection!

Great acting but mostly depressing

[OldGuyUS · 7/10 · 15 December 2023]

This is another KDrama that is hard to rate. It is so well done, but whether you would like it is very dependent on what you are looking for. For example, are you looking to be subjected to hours of sadness? Then watch it. :-)

I usually point out the good before the not so good, but I'll reverse it this time since the not so good is the determining factor for me.

Sub-Optimal

• Sadness. Hours and hours of sadness. Too much for me, honestly.

• The writers were like, "We gave 'em a few minutes of happiness, time to kill off someone!" Gads.

• Inexplicable choices by the leads in the last couple of episodes. Even for a KDrama, and their normal tropes, the leads' choices seemed to not fit the characters as we knew them. So unnecessary and did not add to, but only detracted from, the story.

• What we were all waiting for pretty much came in the last couple of minutes. Too late.

The Good

• Great acting! By absolutely everyone.

• Great cinematography!

• Ha Ji-Won is the reason to watch. So beautiful and so talented. Her small and subtle, cute and comedic scenes made the series. There was just not enough of them.

So, all in all a 7. With less depression and less buffoonery at the end, would have been a 10.

Agree with prior reviewer

[jennyjinlee · 3/10 · 12 January 2020]

Why it takes over 10 full episodes for someone to say, "Hey, remember me?" is ridiculous. I know they had to drag it out to justify all of those episodes, but still it's too painfully slow and unbelievable. Looks like all of the main characters need lots of therapy to understand their own feelings and stop sabotaging themselves. Am also not a fan of a script that has the type of female lead character that doesn't tend to communicate well with her partner. Sometimes she doesn't answer at all and seems to think that's ok. It's so pathological, I swear she communicates best with a dog and some sick children. You will see this if you watch Chocolate, which I don't advise wasting time on.

Such a beautiful, moving story!

[lifecoachrabia · 10/10 · 19 June 2022]

A truly beautiful story. Well written, the music so well scored that it will play in your head long after you fall asleep. There is such honest depth to the main characters, and to the story. The cooking had me falling in love with Korean food all over again. The message of hope compassion, kindness and perseverance is so sorely needed, too. Brilliant, well worth the watch, perhaps even more than once!

a delicious fairy tale

[kriszti-39900 · 8/10 · 7 December 2020]

I liked the basic idea of the series. There are the main characters: Cha-Yeoung and Lee Kang who once briefly knew each other and later on they meet again. The story evolves around a misunderstanding because of which Lee Kang pretty much hates Cha-Yeoung, the woman, who in his concept or part of the story betrayed and left his best friend. So for him she is a devious, heartless person and the story is how these negative feelings turn to admiration and love with time towards her. The following things I didn't like in the series: -I don't know why the series is called: chocolate, when almost no one ate chocolate in it. About 4 - 5 times they show some chocolate, e.g. Cha-Yeoung walks into a shop and looks amazed, bright-eyed on the chocolate creations but she eats only once during the whole series. I think Cooking & Eating would have been a better title. They didn't even try the snowball size chocolate shashimi or whatever it was called, which was made by the little Kang.

• I also hated this 'I love you, I need you' song. It was played in the beginning very often, then thankfully the Korean version or part of the song was audible which was a huge relief, it was that sirupy.
• Cha-Yeoung is pretty much a young Mother Teresa. She is way too selfless and kind. She is almost like an angel. An example: an upset grandmother is sure that her grandchild got ill because of Cha-Yeoung's cooking, so she starts to beat her up. And what is her reaction to that? Nothing. Nothing at all. She just stands there and takes the beating until Kang appears (when she is already lying on the floor) and stops the aggressive grandma. A similar situation: her brother quarrels with an old man who loses his temper and starts to beat him with his stick. She jumps between them and gets beaten until Kang appears again and helps her. Or another one: Kang is exhausted and lies down on the floor, without a blanket or a pillow. She enters the room, opens a cupboard that has a pile of pillows and blankets and she puts a pillow under his head and covers him with a blanket. And what does she do? She also lies down next to him, but she doesn't take any pillow or blanket. So, for me her character was too good to be true.

Anyway despite of these little things I found the series very good. It shows what is important in life. The relationships and how we treat each other. It showed that there is always a chance for new beginnings or to forget / forgive the sins / mistakes of the past. It has a life-affirming message, that no one ever should give up, even if the odds are against one.